Editorials for Sunday — September 21, 2003

• Grading and grubbing

• Shinseki comments

• Koloa Missionary Church

Grading and grubbing

Ongoing complaints about alleged grading and grubbing violations have brought about an inconsistent variety of responses from county officials.

Testimony before the County Council has shown that there is no long-term set policy when it comes to determining what a grading or grubbing violation is.

This follows months of news about the damage done to the coral reef at Pila‘a following what the county has determined was illegal land clearing.

The public is now aware of this problem and calling in reports to The Garden Island. While a recent report at Kealia was worked out, it is unclear whether the situation would have improved if the council and The Garden Island hadn’t pressed the point before the public.

State Sen. Gary Hooser is asking the county to bring in state auditor Marion Higa, a no-nonsense public servant, to audit the procedures within the county Public Works division in regards to grading and grubbing.

With the lag time between report and action, as well as the restarting of some projects during an investigation, it appears such oversight is probably needed.

It’s time to get the county’s house in order in regards to action taken when reports of possible illegal grading and grubbing occur.

Teeth need to be put into county laws in this regard, too. The fines and penalties may be too low, in fact low enough where some land developers might see them as just an added expense to a development.

Shinseki comments

Former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki, a Kaua‘i native, has come out against how the U.S. involvement in Iraq is going and how it came about.

Shinseki is now a civilian and free to speak his mind about military activities.

His comments are a fresh take in the national political arena, and may show that talk about a political future on the national level for Shinseki are true.

Koloa Missionary Church

For the past fifty years the Koloa Missionary Church has stood as a solid citizen in Koloa town. The church’s dedicated members are helpful to the community as well as their own congregation, and the church has a sterling reputation in its service to the people of Koloa and surrounding towns.

The church is located in the same general area where a Protestant missionary station was started in the 1840s, and also plays a role in preserving the history of the area through the use and upkeep of historical buildings that tell the story of Koloa’s past.